


Come Home

by coolification



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Gore, Comfort, Dark Dean Winchester, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Mark of Cain, Murder, POV Third Person Limited, Present Tense, Purgatory, Season/Series 10, Short One Shot, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-26
Updated: 2015-02-26
Packaged: 2018-03-15 08:57:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3441212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolification/pseuds/coolification
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the mark taking over, Dean decides it's best to take it where it will be less dangerous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come Home

**Author's Note:**

> Also on tumblr, [here.](http://venusdebotticelli.tumblr.com/post/112145769971/as-much-as-i-hate-the-retcon-about-rogue-reapers)

The burning pulse of the mark runs through the veins of his arm, his shoulder, his chest, his heart, his mind, his whole body. It looms over him, it seeps into his deepest core, it surrounds him, it threatens to take over. It has been like this for a while now, maybe days, maybe a few weeks, he hasn’t really been counting; too busy trying not to blow his brother’s head off, trying not to bash that lady’s skull into the yoghurt shelf at the supermarket, trying not to slash Castiel’s gut open, trying not to run over that group of teens crossing the road.

But now he finally finds his outlet, in this land of doomed souls, his killing almost feels like a favour. Just cleaning the filth away. He wishes the blade on his hand were a different one, to feel the smooth leather on the hilt and the thrill up his arm when bone meets bone and blood runs free. Instead he relishes on the familiar weight of the bone against his hand, the satisfying cracks and wet noises when the rock blade breaks the bodyless bodies of the damned souls open.

He doesn’t know how long it’s been since he left the bunker and its other two occupants in the middle of the night, found his way here, and started leaving his bloody trail through these woods, but the monsters that come die at his hands are more scarce now. Maybe there’s not enough humanity left in him to shine like a beacon calling to them, or maybe word of his bloodlust and ruthlessness has spread, and there aren’t that many monsters left stupid enough to run towards him instead of away from him.

There are at least three more of them. He’s just freeing the blade from the first one’s neck and turning to face the others when one of them falls dead to the ground at the hands of the last one.

"Didn’t think I’d see you again, brother. Not here."

The mark’s call suddenly sounds a little fainter, and his shoulders relax slightly, a bit of the tension leaves his body along with the breath he lets out. “Benny?”

The vampire has a tiny smirk on his lips, but his eyes are tense with caution as he sizes up the other monster. “Seems a lot’s been goin’ on with you since I last saw you. You lost another angel around here or is it something else this time?” Dean is painfully conscious of the weapon he’s wielding, so he puts it down, point stuck on the back of the poor bastard it last fed on— no, not feed, this blade doesn’t need that.

"Speaking of last time, you liar, you never came back." Benny’s eyes close a little at the obvious deflection, but it seems he won’t dwell on it. 

"It wasn’t my place, brother, you know that." A pause, and then, "And this ain’t your place either, Dean. What is it?" The hunter averts his gaze, takes a deep breath, and lifts his right sleeve to reveal the angry red veins and the glowing scar. He’s not sure Benny knows exactly what he’s looking at, but he certainly can feel the vile energy emmanating from it. "I’m guessing that’s not just another pal getting a ride outta here" that gets a broken little laugh from Dean.

"I can’t control it, Benny. For a while I thought perhaps I could, but it’s too much. Every night I have dreams about hurting Sam, Cas, my other friends,… Right now I’m thinking how easy it’d be to slice this piece of rock right through your neck. I’ve already done it once, why not again?"

"So you thought to go out taking with you some rats who deserve it, not innocent people." Dean shrugs and gives him a half smirk, that the vampire surprisingly returns with a full grin. "I know where they’re hiding. Wanna go hunting some rats, like the old times?"

"Yeah, yeah, I do, buddy."

* * *

It feels good, doing this with someone by his side. He has felt the urge to bury the blade into his friend’s back more than once, but there’s always some other monster stealing his attention and stopping him. It’s been blood, and grime, and flying entrails, and the constant pressence of the mark, and a dark haze of death for hours now, but he feels invigorated, more alive than he’s been in months, since he was a demon. There’s not a goal to the carnage this time, nothing he expects to find at the end of it, he just lets himself be carried by it.

Until suddenly a bright light breaks its way through the darkness, and Dean’s staring at the burnt corpses of three monsters falling to the floor around a standing figure in a suit that feels too clean for this place.

"Dean…" bright, concerned, eyes lock with his, and suddenly he feels like throwing up, or like throwing the blade as far away from him as he can, as if that’s gonna do anything to erase all the blood it took with it. His knees feel too weak to keep holding his weight, and he lets them fall to the puddle of bloody mud beneath him. Castiel’s eyes don’t leave him for a second as he walks to him, not even when Benny approaches too, and he kneels on the mud right in front of Dean, with no regard for his ruined slacks. Warm arms are suddenly pulling Dean to a solid chest, and Dean finds himself shaking as he breathes in the soothing smell of his friend. He doesn’t return the hug, doesn’t want to taint Castiel more than he already has, but he can’t prevent the salty tears from leaving his eyes and landing on the coat against his cheek. "I’m so sorry, Cas. I’m so fucking sorry"

"I don’t know how long you had been gone when we noticed you weren’t there anymore. Sam is trying to get information from Crowley, I was the one who thought to look here. I’m glad I found you, Dean."

"Well, you shouldn’t be." he closes his fists against the front of his friend’s coat, presses his forehead against the base of his throat. "It’s the only place I have left, Cas. Or else I’m gonna kill you, and Sam, and everybody else, and at some point I’m gonna be planning a massive genocide, and no one will be there to stop me. You should just leave me here to rot."

"You won’t, because I won’t." one of his hands cups Dean’s nape while the other rubs a gentle pattern down his back. He can feel the wetness seeping through his pants, cooling the skin on his legs, but he lets it, because he needs to be here with Dean. "I’m going to bring you back home to us, or I will stay here with you if that’s what you choose to do, but one way or another I will make sure you don’t face this alone, Dean. Cain may not have been able to keep the mark under control forever, but he was on his own. Sam and I are here with you, Dean, and we will help you bear this burden." he grabs Dean’s face between his hands and moves it to look him in the eyes as he says the last part, so he can see the shadow of pain that crosses through the hunter’s face at that.

"Cain had his wife, love of his life, and it wasn’t enough. He still killed her."

A sudden snort from Benny makes them both turn to look at him. “And you don’t have your love with you?” Both their eyes widen in surprise at that, and Dean can’t help the side glance towards Castiel that escapes his eyes.

"That-that’s not the point,  _he still killed her_.” his nervousness transpires in his voice as he says it, but then Cas is taking his head again to make him look at him, and the open warmth and sweetness in his face is enough to make Dean forget whatever he was going to say next.

"And in doing so he lost her, and he lost his will to pick himself up anymore. You haven’t lost me, and you haven’t lost Sam. And you don’t need to lose any of us if you help yourself and let us help you. Please, Dean, trust that we can do this together?"

The hunter buries his face on his friend’s chest again, and this time wraps his arms tightly around his waist. 

"Will you come home with me? To us?"

Dean breathes his “Yes” against Castiel’s jaw, forehead pressed to temple.

**Author's Note:**

> The wonderful [libbyroseitm](http://libbyroseitm.tumblr.com/) drew fanart for this and you should all [go check it out](http://libbyroseitm.tumblr.com/post/112538601059/will-you-come-home-with-me-to-us-yes-from) because it's amazing :)


End file.
